About Passwords

Most people probably wouldn't leave the key to their house hanging from a hook on the front door. Yet these same people might be just as careless with the password that unlocks their personal information on a Web site like WebMD. Choosing a password that's secure and maintaining its secrecy are two of the most important steps you can take in safeguarding your privacy.

First, let's start with choosing a good password. To help keep your personal information safe, passwords on WebMD must be 8 to 16 characters (letter and/or numbers) long and not contain any spaces. The ampersand (&), asterisk/star (*), plus sign (+), hyphen (-), and underscore (_) characters are allowed. Passwords are not case sensitive, meaning that capital letters and lowercase letters are not treated as different characters.

You should choose a password that is well known to you but not obvious to others. The name of your pet or significant other, your birthday, your Zodiac sign are not good choices. Neither are the words "secret" or "password," since lots of people use these.

The best passwords are long (at least 8 characters), include a mix of upper- and lower-case characters, and contain a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Some examples:

Cops&Robbers36

Love_is_GRAND

Roll*Wave*Roll

Once you've chosen a good password, don't share it with others. Memorize your password. If you must write it down, don't keep it out in the open (e.g. on a sticky note attached to your computer monitor or written on the bottom of the keyboard. Keep it in a safe place, away from your computer. Ideally, you would change your password every six (6) months.

When you choose your password on WebMD, you will be required to answer two security questions (also called Challenge/Response questions) that will allow you to retrieve your username, change your password or have your password reset should you forget it. If you are unable to answer your security questions exactly as entered, our Customer Service team will be notified via email and will manually reset your account for you.

Note: If you use the automated system, your account can be reset instantly. If you require your account to be manually reset by our Customer Service Team, it may take up to 48 business hours due to the high volume of email we receive on a daily basis.

Don't share your password with others. A person who finds out your password can not only see your personal information, he or she can also change your preferences and settings on the WebMD site.